Proud Parents

Sunday October 3rd

Today was the reason for us being in London this weekend. The RAF Central Band were doing a concert in the Albert Hall to commemorate the Battle of Britain and Hamish had booked us tickets back in March. However these tickets had gone astray in the post and ended up back at the Albert Hall so he needed to front with his credit card and get a reprint. This meant meeting up with him after the rehearsal and before the concert started.

We planned to go into South Kensington on the tube and go to the V and A Museum as a morning activity. So after packing sandwiches (more about that later) we took the tube to Nottinghill Gate and changed to get to South Kensington. By now it was raining again but fortunately there is a labyrinth of tunnels underground to all the Kensington museums so we followed the signs to the V and A came right up in the museum in the dry. Never in our previous visits have we looked at the jewellery so we spent most of the time looking at the collection which is extensive, but well laid out labelled and displayed. I also had a brief look through the fashion over the years, which is my favourite gallery in this museum and it had several new acquisitions including Dianna’s beautiful Catherine Walker pearl on silk gown know as the Elvis outfit.

We had to brave the rain to get to the Albert Hall but it was an annoying drizzle rather than a torrential downpour. We waited by the stage door for Hamish and at one stage I went to check to the box office door in case he was there and a woman on the door said in a rather strange and stroppy tone of voice “Where did you get that sandwich?” It seemed an unusual thing to say. I wondered what it had to do with her. I didn’t think it was against the rules to eat a sandwich outside the door. I said I had made it myself and she seemed surprised but satisfied with that answer. However shortly after that I found out that there was not a sandwich available in any of the food places in the Albert Hall and lots of people were complaining as they had had come early and gone up to the bars only to find they had sold out of sandwiches and only had bags of crisps for £2.10. One disgruntled patron said the seller, I don’t want the whole box, just a packet, but it went over his head. When Hamish did arrive and had picked up the tickets he also found that they had no food suitable for a very hungry trombone player so he left the hall in search of sustenance.

The seats were fantastic, in the front row of the gallery with an unrestricted view. Louise’s mother was sitting with us and managed to catch Louise’s eye and she waggled her clarinet to show she had seen us. But no Hamish appeared and three empty trombone chairs and three empty trumpet chairs were visible. But then the six of them arrived down the side stairs in their full ceremonials complete with hats and the fanfare trumpets and they played the fanfare at the beginning of the National Anthem. It was very impressive. They then missed the next number as they had to get back into their evening dress and joined the stage for the Royal Air Force March Past. I had to keep reminding myself that this was the Royal Albert Hall in London and my son was on the stage. He even got to feature in another number and did several solo stand-ups and got an individual acknowledgment at the end. Loiuse's mum Heidi, was just as excited about being a proud mum and having a kid in the band as we were. It was great to be proudly smiling down on our children together even if they seem to take it all in their stride.

The concert was well programmed with something to appeal to everyone. They even had a ukulele player singing George Formby songs. It was WW2 nostalgia and the age of the audience reflected this, although it was good to see some younger people there. Coach loads of people had arrived from all over.

The last part of the concert was very like a Last Night at the Proms. We had been given Union Jacks when we bought our programme. The audience joined in singing Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia. The paper flags were really quite noisy once everyone started waving them. Well over half of the nearly 5,000 in the audience had them. It will be as close as we ever get to a Last Night of the Proms in the Albert Hall. It certainly had the same atmosphere, and the audience wanted to start singing Land of Hope and glory far too early.

The Concert was under the musical direction of Gavin Sutherland and the London Concert Orchestra combined with the band on stage. Gavin came out to New Zealand several times to conduct the NZ Ballet Productions when Hamish was in the Wellington Vectra Orchestra and it was the first time their paths had crossed again since Hamish had come to live in London. It really is a small world.

After the concert finished we all went out for a meal together at Wagamama which served Japanese food. The tube strike had officially started at 6.30pm so we were wondering how we were all going to make it back home. Hamish checked on his phone and it seemed some services were still running and we could get back to Northolt relatively easily which was a relief. Heidi was able to get back to Victoria to catch her overland train back to Kent so all was well.

Tomorrow may be a different story. The train literally runs through the back garden of this house so we should know fairly early on if they are still running out here or not. Apparently on the last tube strike three weeks ago the band had a police escort of 6 motorbikes and it still took them three and half hours to get into St Pauls Cathedral from Northolt. Driving into town is not an option so we need to get in on a train. Watch this space!!!